Airship.



0. A. KUENZEL.

AIRSHIP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1910.

Patented Mar. 14, 1 911.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS O. A. KUENZEL. AIRSHIP.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1910. 986,579. V

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

OLA. KUENZEL.

' AIRSHIP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1910.

- Paitented Mar. 14, 1911.

6 SHEETSSKEET 3.

WITNESSES ATNE G. A. KUENZEL.

AIRSHIP.

- APPLICATION FILED 11.21, 1910.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES C. A. KUENZEL. AIRSHIP.

v APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1910. 986,579.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

e SHEETISSHEBT 5.

C. A. KUENZBL.

AIRSHIP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1910.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

G SHEETS-SHEBT 6.

wlmessis D wa arms? I c'HAnLEs A."; KU 1'iNZEL, "OF Berna visas}Genoa-Ape;

-T0 all'whom'ritimay'con c ernz Be it known that'I, CHARLES a citizen ofthe United States. residing at Buena Vista, in the county ofChaifee,State of Colorado, have invented'a new and useful Airship,- of whiclithe following is a Specification.

My invention consists of a dirigible balloon or air ship constructed tobe capableof movement in the air, on water, or on land.

lt also" consists of improved means for' propelling the ship.

It also consists of improved means for guiding and steering the ship. a

It further consists of improved details of construction and arrangementof the several instrumentalities for operating the ship.

For the purpose of explaining my invention, theaccomp'anying drawingillustrates a satisfactory reduction of the 'same'to practice, but theimportant instrumentalities thereof may be varied, andso it is to beunderstood that the invention is notlimited to the specific arrangementand organization shown and described.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of an air ship embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of the hullthereof. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal horizontal section of thehull. Fig. 4 represents a transverse vertical sectionof the hull. Fig. 5represents a frontend view of the gas bag.

Fig. 6 represents a detail view of the gearing for the longitudinalpropeller shaft, one side propeller shaft,.and the solid vertical shaft.

one of the propelling and steeringsail's.

Fig. 8 represents a side view of one of the propelling wheels. Fig. 9represents a side view of the rudder. Fig. 10 represents an end View ofthe rudder. Fig. 11 represents a top view of the rudder. Fig. 12represents 1 Referring to the drawings :1 designates the gas bag whichis considerably longer than wide, and has a downwardly sloping andforwardly tapering front end 2 -somc- What in the shape of a dolphin orwhale,

which shape will admit of such bag. cleaving the air when propelled,with but slight- -re- .sistance to its progress. The top of the gasbagis rounded to facilitate itsascent,"while the bottom of the same isbroad and flat to Fig. 7 represents a. detail view of the actuatingmechanism for ward v and H i Specificat on of Letters-Patent. it Mar-14351911, .z pplication-med 1 111121,aa oif s ria'rn Z 1 r a d en v ipartial parachute function."

A reliefvalve 3 is provided at theltop of the gas bag; and-has asuitable cord 4,3301 operating it. The gas bagl is inclosedin, a net 5-of cord, and-a band, 5f surrounds "the gas bag atv its longestiaxis andhas t-he'net securedto it. Thehullff ,oftheshipi's'suspendedfrom theband around the gasfbag by means of ropes 8, or 'cord s or chains.Thehull hasarailing asup 'or'ted by suitable stanchions f1Q,fsurrounding}the upper deck. Tubes 11' extend from the bottom of the gasbag into the hall to serve for gas communication from suitablereservoirs or generators in thehullfinto"thebag, or for withdrawing gasfronji the: bag and 'com-' 1 pressing or condensin and s't orin'gflt'hesame for future use. The" all has suitable port holes or window" 12to-adniit ail-"and light into the interiorof tliefsaniei 1' An engine13" p'1'efe' 'ablyI of the internal combustion type is mounted withinthe hull upon a suitablefbed'frame 14;, and said engine drives a powershaft 15 transversely journaled in the bed frame and havin fly wheels16, two large cog wheels 17, afndt-wo smaller cog wh'eels18 secured uponit,',one o;f each pair ofsaid' wheels being at. each side of the engineand its crank, l Two-shaft sections 19 are'f transversely Ijournaled{above and parallel withthe driveshaft, andhave pinions 20 mounted uponthem and provided with suitable clutch devices 21, whereby thepinionsmay be engaged with .or' disengaged from the shaft sections;Propeller wheels 22 are secured'upon'thc" outer "ends "of these shaftsections, which ends, project through suitable boxes 23, in theside's-of the 'hull. Said wheels consisteach lof a hub 24, havingflanges 25 to whichj pairs of registering *spokesv 26 ares'ecu'red toproject radially; and each set ofspokes i$ connected'by an outer rim 27,and a b iiwin g -rilnp28, at about the middle of th'e spokes'. Varies 29are pivoted by pintlesatjthe' nriiddles of their side edges between"pairs of registering spokes and have lugs 30 projecting fromnear. theiredges, which lugs are pivotally connected to rods 31 having radial playupo'nthcifnner side of the wheel. rods halve rollers 32 at their innerends, which rollers .tra'vel'jupon a; cam 33, secured upon "the sidefoffthe hull, and having a bulgefcoveringlaljoutf :one third of itsperiphery 'andlpro e ingxfor- .a s ne rly seen in 5', hav- Springs 34connected to the rods and to the bracing rim serve to draw the rodsinward and to thus keep the rollers bearing against. thecam. When therods are moved inward, the vanes are tilted to present their edges inthe direction of rotation of the Wheel, and

lower rearward movement they oppose re-.

sistance of the air or water, presenting their faces to the same.

Bevel gears, 35 and 36 are mounted upon the inner ends of the propellershaft sections, and one 35 of these gears meshes with a bevel gear 37,upon the end of a shaft 38,

longitudinally journaled in hearings in the hull. Said latter gearmeshes with a bevel gear 39, upon the lower end of a shaft 40,vertically journaled to project upward through the upper deck. .A bevelgear 41 upon the lower end of a t'ubular shaft 42 meshes with the bevelgear 36, and said tubular shaft surrounds the solid vertical shaft.Suitable clutch devices 43, 44, a5 and 46 are respectively provided forconnecting or disconnecting the bevel gears 35, 41, 37 and 39 with orfrom their respective shafts. Screw propellers or helicopters 47 and 48are respectively secured to the upper ends of the solid shaft and itssurrounding tubular shaft, and each propeller will, when re-- volved,serve to raise or depress the ship without changing the gas volume inthe gas bag. The longitudinal shaft 38 extends rearward and through thestern of the ship, and a screw propeller 4:9 is mounted upon thisprojecting end and serves to propel the hull when the hull is supportedon water. A bevel gear 50 is mounted upon the lon itudinal propellershaft, and has a clutch evice 51 for throwing it into or out ofengagement with the shaft, and said bevel gear IHGShGS'Vv ith a bevelgear 52 upon the upper end of a vertically journaled shaft 53, the lowerend of which shaft rojects through the bottom of the hull and has abevel gear 54 secured upon its lower end to mesh with a bevel gear 55,secured upon a drive axle 56, having wheels 57 and journaled beneath thehullin boxes 58. Said axle carries a sprocket wheel 59, around whichpasses a sprocket chain 60, which passes around another sprocket wheel61, upon a drive axle 62, journaled in boxes 63, and having wheels 64:.A wheel 65 suflicient for sli ht steering is journaled in a fork \66ivote under the front end of the hull and aving a cog wheel 67 upon theupper'end of its pivot post, with which cog wheel, a pinion 68 upon anupright shaft 69 meshes. and said shaft has a hand wheel 70, by means ofwhich the steering device is manipulated. The hull may thus besupported, propelled, and'guided upon land by means of the abovedescribed drive wheels and steering wheel. When the hull is on land orwater, the gas bag may be deflated and suitably stowed away on the upperdeck or in the hold. The small cog wheels 18 upon the drive shaft meshwith two cog wheels 71, upon two transverse shaft sections 72, and eachof said wheels is geared to a cog wheel 73, through two pinions 74. Oneset of said pinions L have suitable clutch devices75 for-throwing saidwheels into or out of engagement with their shaft. Each of the cogwheels 73 is secured upon a trans verse shaft section 76 upon which issecured a cam or eccentric 77, to which a rod 78'is connected to bereciprocatcd. These rods are supported in guides 79, parallel to thesides of the hull.

Propelling sails 80 are pivoted with their vertical posts or pintles 81,in brackets 82 upon the sides of the hull, and each sail has vanes 83horizontally pivoted in its frameSst and pivotally connected at theiredges to a vertical rod 85, to the lower end of which is secured aspring 86, also secured to the lower end of the frame'to draw the roddown and thus tilt the vanes into a vertical position, presenting theirplane faces to the motion of the wings.

Levers 87 are pivoted in the sides of the hull and have pins 88 at theends of their long arms, engaging longitudinal grooves 89, in the upperedges of the sail frames. Connecting rods 90 are pivotally connected tothe short arms of the lovers and to the longitudinally sliding rods 78,so that the lovers may be rocked by the reciprocation of the rods, andthe sails swing forward and back by the levers. Cords 91 are secured tothe upper ends of the rods rocking the vanes,

so as to pull against the springs for the latter and tilt the vanes in aplane at right angles to the face of the sail to present edgewise whenthe sail is swung forward and these cords are secured to levers 92,fulcrumed in the hull and connected to the longitudinally reciprocatingsaid actuating rods by connecting rods 93, so that the vanes will bepulled closed by the springs when said actuating rods are moved forward,and the cords are slackened, and will be tilted edgewise when theactuating rods are in their foremost positions, so as to allow the sailsto swing forward as the rods slide back, without offering any resistanceto their movement or to the forward movement of the ship.

The rudder 94 consists of a rectangular frame having a pivetpcst 95turning in brackets 96, upon the stern of the hull. Vanes 97 arehorizontally pivoted by pintles upon the middles of their end edges inthe vertical sides of the rudder frame, and tilting rods 98 arepivotally connected to the edges of said vanes to rock the same whenmoved vertically. S rings 99 are attached to the upper ends of thesetilting rods and to the upper end of the rudder frame to exert an upwardpull upon the rods, and said springs balance each other so as to causethe vanes to tilt into horizontal position at right angles to the faceof the rudder. Tiller ropes 100 are secured to the lower ends of therods and pass around pulleys 101 in the lower end of the frame, througheyes in the ends of a lower yoke 102 trans: versly secured at the lowerend of the rudder frame, and through eyes in the ends of an upper yoke103, at the upper end of the rudder frame and thence into the hull. Wheneither tiller rope is pulled it will close the vanes. and pull therudder to one side, the latter presenting a solid surface when moved andheld, and release of the pull will allow the vanes to swing edgewise soas to admit of the rudder swingingback without resistance. If it isdesired to move the rudder in unison and connected with the side sails,the tiller ropes are attached to one arm each of two bell cranks 104,the other arms of which are connected by means of connecting rods 105 toone arm, each of twobell cranks 106, to the other arms of which aresecured cords or ropes 107, the forward ends of which are respectivelysecured to the wing actuating rods 78. VVh'enone of said rods movesforward to actuate a wing on that side, to move the ship in the'opposite direction, the rudder will be tilted to steer the hull in suchdirections. The side sails or wings may act as steering means as well aspropelling means, and the ship is movable and dirigible in the air, onwater, or on land, owing to its several propelling and steering devices.

Having thus described my invent-ion what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an air ship, a body or hull having means for supporting it in theair, propelling blades having frames pivoted at one sideedge to theopposite sides of the body and each having a longitudinal groove in itsend, levers fulcrumed in the sides of the body and having pins at theirends engag ing the said grooves, rods having means for reciprocatingthem, and connecting rods pivotally connected to sa dlrods and to thelevers. r

2. In an air ship, a body or hull having meansfor supporting it in theair, propelling blades having frames pivoted at one side edge onopposite sides'of the body and each having a longitudinal groove in itsend, vanes pivoted in the sail frames to rock or feather to presenttheir edges or faces, levers fulcriuned in the sides of the ,body andhaving pins at their outer ends engaging the said grooves, rods guidedto slide longitudinally in the body, means for reciprocating said rods,connecting rods pivotally connected to said rods and levers, and meansconnected to the reciprocating rods and to the feathering vanes tdpresent the same edgewise on forward movement and facing on rearwardmovementl 8. In an air ship, a body or hull having means for supportingit in the air, propelling blades having frames piuoted at one side edgeon ppposite sides of the body, vanes pivoted in the sail frames at themiddles of their ends, a rod pivotally connected to one edge of eachvane, a spring connected to said rod to longitudinally move it to tiltthe vanes to presentedgewise, reciprocating rods in the hull connectedto oscillate the sails, and flexible connections attached to saidreciprocating rods and to the Vane actuating rodsi to pull againsttheaction of the springs. g

4. In an air ship, a rudder consisting of a. rectangular frame, one sideof which forms the rudder post or pi'ntle, vanes pivoted at their endsin the side pieces of the frame, rods pivotally connected to theopposite edges of the vanes to tilt the same, springs connected to theends of said rods to longitudinally move them, a transverse yoke on theupper end piece of the frame, a transverse yoke on the lower end pieceof the frame, and tiller ropes secured to the rods to pull against thesprings and guided on the frame and through eyes in the yokes.

' CHARLES A. KUENZEL. Witnesses:

WM. H. HECKLER, CHAs. HERRLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

